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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1649 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 31, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

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100% I've never had to translate a Russian accent over a shit quality phone line, while most of my formative experiences with Indian accents were telemarketers and frustrating interactions with IT/customer service. Whenever I had incomprehensible professors in college I'd just skip the lectures, and I grew up in Southern California so Hispanic accents always just sounded normal to me. Indian is the only foreign accent I consistently interact with under almost exclusively unpleasant circumstances I have no means of avoiding. We'd probably all hate Italian accents if Italy was where all the call centers were located.

100% I've never had to translate a Russian accent over a shit quality phone line,

It's not much more comprehensible in a lecture theatre.

Are we talking about Russians who live in Russia or ones who've spent some time living in the west?

I know a fair few Russians and can't say I've ever had any problems at all understanding their accent. Occasionally challenges with their English knowledge but nothing related to pronunciation.

Yeah, but I could always skip the lectures and get by spending that time in the library and relying on the TA. And since I wasn't STEM, most of my professors were home grown American communists who unfortunately were quite articulate.

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